Improvement in car seats and couches



- 3 Sheets-Sheet I, T. SHARP.

Car Seat and Couch.

Witnesses: W 2 Q5; Inventor,

5W ZM V Patented Aug. 14. 1866.

' Sh t h T. S P 3 ees S eet 2 Car Seat and Couch.

No. 57,198. Patented Aug. 14. 1866.

Witnesses: m tor M; i

AM- PHoTo-LI'FHD. C0. N.Y- [OSBORNE'S PROCESS.)

3 .Sheets-Sheet 3. T. SHARP.

Car Seat and Couch.

No. 57,198. Patented Aug. 14. 1866.

y- .4 z y B 3 Witnesses: t M /M ,ZAQQQ 3%2 AM. PHOTO'LITHO. Ell-NH. (OSBURNE'S PROCESS) NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS SHARP, OF CARLISLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN CAR SEATS AND CQUCHES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 57,198, dated August 14, 1856.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS SHARP, of Carlisle, in the county of Cumberland and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Railroad Car Seat and Couch; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal section taken vertically through a car, showing the manner of arranging the backs of three seats to form upper berths. Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken in the vertical plane indicated by red line 00 a: in Fig. 1, showing the upper and lower berths. Fig.3is a longitudinal section through three seats arranged to form a lower berth. Fig. 4. is a top view of three seats, showing the arrangement of the slats thereon to support the cushions. Fig. 5 is a vertical section through one of the seats, showing the back and bottom cushions in place for a day-seat. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the bottom side of one of the hinged cushions which is used to form thelower berths. Fig. 7 shows the construction of the springs which are applied to the suspension-rods of the upper berths.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to a novel mode of constructing railroad-car seats, which are arranged transversely to the length of the car, whereby the seats can be readily and convenientl y converted into upper and lower sleeping-berths.

The object of my invention is to pivot the backs of seats to vertically-sliding stay-rods, which are applied to the side arms of the seats, so that said backs can be elevated in a vertical line, and also readily turned over from one side to the other of the seats in the usual manner of adjusting such seats, and to provide, in conjunction therewith, suspensionrods, which are hung from the roof of the car, and adapted for sustaining the seat-backs in an elevated position, so that they shall serve, when thus arranged, as elevated berths, and be stayed by the said sliding rods, as will be hereinafter described.

Another object of my invention is to employ auxiliary folding cushions, which are adapted to serve, in conjunction with ordinary seatcnshions and with slats, which are applied on the seat-frames and over the spaces between the same, for forming continuous lower berths, and which folding cushions will also be received below the bottom cushions of the seats without interfering with the movement of the pivoted footrests, as will be hereinafter described.

Another object of my invention is to employ movable supporting slats, which are adapted to form end supports for the cushions of the lower berths, in conjunction with cushions which are provided with springs that rest upon said slats and afford ease and comfort to persons reclining upon the seats, as will be hereinafter described.

Another object of my invent-ion is to employ spring-suspenders for the backs of the seats, which will allow these seats to move up and down freely when these seat-backs are hinged to extension-rods that constitute lateral stays and connections of the backs with their respective seat-frames, as willbe hereinafter described.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand my invention, I will describe its construction and operation.

In the accompanying drawings, A represents a car-body, and B B are the car-seats, which are arranged in two rows on each side of the center of the car, so as to leave a passage-way between them in the usual man- I161.

The seat-frames B are arranged at suitable distances apart and transversely to the length of the car, and these frames consist of curved side arms, which are bolted to the earfioor, and connected together by means of two rails,

upon which the bottom cushions rest when a Below each seat-frame B, and

seat is formed. pivoted to short standards thatare bolted to the floor of the car, is a rocking footrest, O, which may be constructed likeany of the ordinary foot-rests for car-seats. On the inside surfaces of the legs of the seat-frames, and arranged in the same plane, are small angular steps or shelves at a, which are adapted for in forming the lower berths, as shown in Fig. 3.

In order to arrange the folding cushions l) beneath the seat-bottoms the former must be partially folded, as shown in Fig. 5, in which condition they will not be liable to get out of place, nor will they be in'the way of the footrests 0. There are spaces left between these cushions D and the seat-cushions D for receiving the slats E, that form end supports for the cushions when a couch is formed. When the seat-cushions D are in their places over the cushions D the latter are prevented from rising, and consequently they will not be liable to jar out of their places.

In the center of the side arms of the seatframes B are hollow standards b b, which are suitably secured to said arms, so as to form receptacles for vertical sliding rods 0 c, to the upper ends of which rods the backs F of the seats are pivoted by means of arms (I d, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 5.

The arms at are connected to the ends of the backs in the middle of their width, so that the backs can be turned over and used for either side of the seats, as may be required. The width of these backs F should be equal to the width of a seat and also the space between two seats, so that when the backs are elevated and brought to a horizontal position, as shown in Fig. 1, a continuous couch will'be formed, and the edges of the several backs will abut against each other. The width of the backs of the seats will vary according to the distance of the seats apart.

At suitable points I attach to the car-roof suspension-rods g g, which are provided with hooks on their lower ends. These books are all in the same plane, and are used as means for attaching the backs F to the rods 9 when it is desired to form the upper sleeping-berths.

Pins or buttons i i are secured to the cor ners of the backs F for receiving the hooks on the suspension-rods. Any other suitable means for attaching the backs to said rods may be adopted 5 but I prefer to employ the hook-fastenings, as they are very simple and will answer a very good purpose.

The sliding rods 0 0 are made of sufficient length to allow of the elevation of the berths or backs F to the position shown in Fig.1

without coming out of their hollow standards;

consequently these backs F will always be connected to the seat-frames by rods, which serve as lateral braces when the backs are arranged to form berths.

It will be seen that the backs of the seats are adapted to form the upper sleeping-berths, and that when thus arranged they are suspended by means of rods from the roof of the car and connected to the seat-frames, so

that when seats are required the backrcan be readily disconnected from their suspenders and returned to their proper positions, and while this 1s the case it will also be seen that the backs can be turned over in either direction, according to the position in which a person desires to sit.

I provide for affording elasticity to the upper berths by employing spring-boxes h, which are shown clearly in Fig. 7. These boxes are provided with hooks, and the springs which they contain sustain the weight of the berths or backs F and their occupants.

The lower range of berths are made up of the cushions D D and the supporting-slats E, which latter are first laid down upon the crossrails of the seat-frames B, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, and upon these slats the cushions are arranged so that they will form a level surface.

The slats E are notched, so as to receive the upper edges of the seat-rails and to form continuous lines, as shown in Fig. 4, their notched ends abutting over one of the seat-rails.

The cushions D and D are provided with springs s s, which may be made of rubber or of metal, and which are applied to the bottoms of the cushions, so as to rest upon the longitudinal slats E when these cushions are arranged to form the lower sleeping berths. These springs will afford elasticity to the seats or cushions and comfort to the persons reclining thereupon.

It will be evident from the above description that the object of one part of my invention is to obtain an increased amount of space between the upper and the lower berths, which object is effected by the extension-rods.

I do not confine myself to the sliding rods 00 for elevating the backs of the seats, as other equivalent devices may be used for increasing the space between the backs and the bottoms of the seats after said hacks have been swung over to a horizontal position on their pivots or hinges; neither do I confine myself to the rods suspended from the top of thecar for holding the backs in their elevated positions, as other looking or retaining devices may be adopted without departing from my invention of providing for both swinging over the backs to a horizontal position and elevating them after they are thusswung over to said position, all being effected without detaching the backs from the seats.

Having thusdescribed my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by L'et ters Patent, is-

1. Providing means, substantially as described, whereby hinged backs of car-seats are elevated after they are swung over to a horizontal position, and after being thus elevated are retained in position either permanently or with only a slight freedom to move up and down, all for the purpose set forth.

4. The combination of the cushions D or D, springs s s, and slats E E, substantially as and. for the purposes set forth.

THOMAS SHARP.

Witnesses B. T. CAMPBELL, EDW. SoHAJaER. 

